Hello

[lvmyavalon]

1st day on forum.Have been purchasing cars since 1962.Have been lucky enough to drive some classics.Including the Shelby 427 cobra.It has always been just wash & wax.I knew NOTHING about polishes etc.I hope to collect as much info as possible on car care.Last june I purchased a 2007 toyota avalon.It had never seen wax & the brake dust on the wheels was unbelievable.I put it in the garage & spent a lot of time cleaning up the paint ,wheels & interior.Although It looks really great right now I am sure there is more I can do. being a novice at this the last thing I want to do is damage anything.Not sure if a buffer is a good idea for a novice.The hood & roof still have some contamination.clay bar ? I will NEVER take this car to a car wash.I don't want any more problems with the paint.I live in northern illinois & am concerned about salt damage & such.It will be -4 degrees here this week-end.So washing is out.We have another car.So I hope I can avoid as much of the bad weather as possible.I'm sure lots of people think it's strange to be this way about there car.I never really felt this way.Maybe it is because I have worked so hard on this & it looks so good now.Feed back please

[JRH]

:welcome: to AGO. I am fairly new here myself so I will let those with more experience answer some of your questions. But I wanted to welcome you anyway.

[Scott DeBrun]

Welcome and you have my sympathies on Illinois winters, I should know I spent 15 winters in central Illinois,brrrr. Claying the car would be a good start but if you don't have a heated garage almost all detailing will have to wait until spring. Don't worry though you stated that you have cleaned and waxed the car so the paint should be protected until you can pay more attention to it. As far as salt goes it is a royal pain to keep out of the wheel wells and if you have a car that you don't mind getting that salt all over it then use that car. If you have to drive the avalon on salty roads try to pressure wash the wheel wells when the roads clear. I hope this helps and there are others on here that have more knowledge than I do so I'll let them offer their knowledge.:welcome:

[Crazy Amos]

Welcome to AG, you have come to the right place for great info. As far as the questions go, I agree with Scott. When it comes to the polisher being too much for a novice, I think you will be ok as long as you stay away from a rotary. Look into a PCXP (Porter Cable 7424XP), you can do a lot of correction with it and not worry TOO much about hurting the paint. AG sells kits that will get you off to a good start but IMO I would read some of the posts here and maybe pick the stuff you want and buy individually (mostly pad combos). AG has great prices and an unbelievable selection of just about everything you will need. I think they have the best customer service and quickest shipping to boot. Oh and one other thing....the specails going on this month are fantastic. If it is an option for you, I would read up quick and then purchase sometime this month because sooner or later you will end up buying it.

P.S. look into becoming a VIP member and you will get additional goodies!

[Scott DeBrun]

A PCXP is not hard to handle. I have only one good arm and can handle it plus it's not powerfull enough to burn your paint. Browse around AG and price out a kit(get the 5.5" pads), if you give them a call they will switch out the 6.5" for 5.5". Then browse AG and price them out individually and see what's the best buy for you. You could also start a thread with the color of your car and what you would like to achieve with the paint. I'm sure you would get alot fo useful information about what compounds to use and what waxes would looks the best. Just remember the old saying about opinions when reading comments about people's favorite compounds and waxes. We all have our favorites and not so favorite but all in all everyone is very helpful here.

[lvmyavalon]

I want to thank everyone for the replys.I'm going to consider a heater of sorts for the garage.I'm really interested in buffers & I think I can go forward with this info.Not knowing to much I'm not sure how far I will be able to take this paint thing.I am going to try & get some photos & get opinions from people as to what they think.Ive always had new cars & never delt with these issues.In my mind I feel the paint has been stressed.Never having been waxed in four years.The car is a metalic grey pearl.Just beautiful.I was a bit concerned when I bought it.But felt I could fix things.It is amazing how many people neither wash nor wax their cars.I get looked at like I'm a wierdo when I talk about careing for a car.I'm sure the people here understand.
Thank again everybody:props:

[Mike Phillips]

Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:


An overview with demonstrations of the Porter Cable 7424XP, Meguiar's G110v2, Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher, Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher, Flex 3401, Flex 603, Flex 3403, Cyclo Polisher, Makita 9227C, DeWalt 849,




Part 1 - How To Pick the Right Car Polisher for your Detail Project
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtrdTvnZX3I]YouTube - Part 1 - How To Pick the Right Car Polisher for your Detail Project[/video]



Part 2 - How To Pick the Right Car Polisher for your Detail Project
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k92m5cJxCk]YouTube - Part 2 - How To Pick the Right Car Polisher for your Detail Project[/video]



Here's an in-depth article on the topic...

How to choose the right polisher for your detailing project (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/22263-how-choose-right-polisher-your-detailing-project.html)

[Mazda.Mark]

i hear you on the weather...i have no gagrage so detailing stops for me like my golf season when winter hits the midwest...reading these forums gets me so excited for spring i need to move just so i can detail more often :)

[Meghan]

:welcome: